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Obviously, giving them off Tuesday night at Newport to get the ready for the game on Saturday has backfired.

They haven’t repaid me with a performance, and that’s disappointing because they were fresh and ready to go.

But I thought Luton were very good. The way they played, the way they passed the ball, the way they ran forward and the creativity they had in their team, they were excellent.

Q: Do you feel that your side should have done more but Luton were very good as well?

A: Yes, of course. A lot of credit to Luton for the way they played and the way the ball stuck to their players.

There wasn’t many opportunities for them in the first half but they took them when they came along.

Q: A free week now, how much of a reaction do you expect from your team at home to Fleetwood Town next Saturday?

A: Listen, they have to do a million times better than they did today. They were very poor.

I’m not taking anything away from Luton. They were very good but our players didn’t tackle and didn’t show the desire to stop shots.

And when we get in good positions in the opposition half we don’t have the desire to have a shot at goal.

Q: Why do you think that desire was missing?

A: I think that sometimes you think the game is going to come to you but Luton were able to get a foothold in the game very quickly because they got that early goal and that set us back.

Q: Graham Carey picked up a booking. Is that a suspension for him?

A: Yes, he will be suspended for the Fleetwood game now.

Q: Are there are any positives to draw from the game? (Matt) Macey actually pulled off three or four pretty decent saves despite the number of goals he conceded.

A: The positives were that (Ryan) Taylor came back into the team and did well, and (Stuart) O’Keefe came onto the pitch and I thought those two helped us in the second half because of their experience.

Q: The Christmas ads are on the TV already. January is not too far around the corner. Do you need to strengthen? Does the club need to provide you with finances to strengthen.

A: Of course, we need to strengthen. Players will have to move on in January for new players to come in, and that’s only natural.

We have got to get injuries back as well. We were without six players today, which we have been for a good period of time.

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Conor Grant didn’t recover from injury from last Saturday and was a big miss for us but we just have to get on with it.

Q: Do you expect to be busy in January?

A: We are always busy in January. We will have to be to get players in, but we have got to look to next Saturday first.

We have got a long way to go until January. We have got the end of November and the month of December first.

Q: Have you started planning for January though?

A: Yes we have. Planning is in place, trying to get players in, but we have obviously got players that need to move out as well.

We have to identify players, which we have done, but that all comes from players that are with clubs and it takes time.

Q: You say players have got to leave. Is that players who are not playing at the moment?

A: Yes, and also it might be players that are in the squad as well. They might have to move on to free up wages for new players to come in.

Q: Why was Conor Grant missing today?

A: He had a calf strain after the Stevenage game and he didn’t train all week. And Jamie Ness felt he was okay and did play but he was limping a bit and it just looked like he was going to pull up again and we had to get him off quite quickly.

Q: So that was the reason why you took him off?

A: Yes

Q: Why replace him with Ryan Taylor at that stage of the game? It was 3-0 at the time.

A: We thought that we might be able to get back into the game at 3-0 but to lose a goal right on half-time, the game was finished.

We did have to try to shut up shop in the second half. We had to go deeper and allow the two Luton centre-halves to be on the ball.

Did we attack much? No we didn’t. When we did attack we did have a few opportunities but we couldn’t allow the scoreline to get any bigger than it was.

Q: Do you know what the penalty was given for?

A: He (referee Darren England) said there was a foul on their number 2 (James Justin).

Q: No-one saw that performance coming did they after the recent performances?

A: We have got to give credit to Luton for the goals that they scored.

I haven’t looked back at the game yet but there wasn’t a whole host of opportunities in the first half for them but they did score when the opportunity came along.

The goals we gave away were extremely poor defensively. Communication-wise, we didn’t do well enough.

We didn’t get up against our man and we weren’t better than Luton all over the pitch, and that’s the reality of the situation.

They had 11 players in the starting 11 that were better than our 11 players, and that’s the way it was.

Q: With the benefit of hindsight, what would you have done differently to have tried to get a different outcome today?

A: I wouldn’t do anything differently from the point of view that we thought we could deal with the wide areas, but our wide players didn’t track the full-backs.

That’s how three goals came in. That tells you our wide players haven’t done their job going back the pitch.

Could I have chosen other wide players? The answer is no because I felt that (Graham) Carey and Joel Grant were the ones to play today.

Q: And they have been playing well for you recently?

A: Yes, they have, but there is a responsibility to do your job going back the pitch and, unfortunately, three goals have come down this left-hand side of the pitch. The communication between the players has to be better.

Q: You have touched on this already but how do you feel about resting everyone for the Newport game, to save them for today, and then you are 3-0 down after half an hour?

A: I feel gutted about that because I have given them a Tuesday night off.

We have all had to travel to Newport to allow them to get fresh and ready for the game and they have put in a performance like that.

That was the first half. Look, they were in the better in the second half.

I think the players have got to take a great deal of responsibility for the result because they couldn’t have been prepared any better than they were for the game.

Q: Do you feel let down by that first half performance?

A: Obviously I am. I played them for the game previously – Scunthorpe, Stevenage and Sunderland – and they have done well for us.

Today, they have let me down. There is no two ways about it.

I can’t come out and back them all the time. They have put on a very poor performance here.

As I keep on saying, I’m not taking anything away from Luton because they have done well, but our players haven’t been at it at times.

As I said to them in the changing room, a lot of the time football is not played by the feet and the legs, it is played in the mind as well.

If you are not mentally right for a game, for a situation, then that affects your legs.

Q: As manager, you take responsibility for results and performances ultimately.

A: I take all the responsibility because I am the manager of the football club. There is no two ways about it.

But at times the manager needs his players to perform in the game. We have had that in recent weeks but today we just came up against a team that were better than us, and that sometimes happens.

I don’t shirk responsibility. I come out and talk, and do whatever I have to do. It’s my job to do that.

Q: After such a heavy defeat, can you and the players turn this around?

A: Well, we have to. We have got Fleetwood at home next week and then a Tuesday night game against Shrewsbury.

We have to get things moving. There is nothing to suggest that we can’t do because we have done well in previous games.

We haven’t done well today, but the next game is another game. You just never know.

At this moment in time, you don’t know which Argyle team are going to turn up.

Q: Would you consider your own position at this performance today?

A: No definitely not. I’m not in that situation. I like to look at things and consider things. I enjoy working for this club.

Q: Freddie Ladapo came off at half-time. How did that change come about?

A: Well, he wasn’t good enough today, as simple as that. That’s why he was taken off. That’s why you make some substitutions.

Q: He has had a lot of publicity and a lot of accolades recently. Do you think that has affected him?

A: It could of, that sometimes happens. It does affect you, but he has to take that responsibility.

He was (Sky Bet League One) player of the month, and you don’t become player of the month without doing things well, but today he wasn’t doing things that we had to.

He gave away one of the free-kicks before they scored a goal. He gave another free-kick away when we were on the front foot.

He has scored goals for us and he has done well but you have to take criticism, and take the positives, as it comes along.